Special to the WJH
Twin Pines Minerals has not produced the $2 million bond or other collateral required to receive its permit to mine titanium near the Okefenokee Swamp, a delay that comes as the company and its affiliates continue to show signs of financial distress.
Georgia Environmental Protection Division (EPD) spokeswoman Sara Lips confirmed Wednesday (June 4) Twin Pines has yet to submit the financial assurance required for permit approval. The agency requested a bond or other collateral from the company in February 2024, shortly after draft permits were released.
Georgia law requires mining operators put up financial assurance to ensure land restoration after mining is completed.
The news of the delay comes as Twin Pines and several of its executives and affiliates are facing a pair of lawsuits from companies who allege they’re owed millions in unpaid services.
The struggles the company has faced in paying its property taxes in Charlton County has been chronicled.
Twin Pines says the $300 million mine project would employ hundreds of full-time workers and double the county’s tax base. These commitments have helped the company garner strong support from Charlton County public officials, who say the additional tax dollars can be used to fund essential public services.
But the company’s apparent financial struggles have cast doubt on those promises, says Southern Environmental Law Center attorney Peter Slag.
“The fact Twin Pines hasn’t or can’t come up with this amount of money shows they aren’t a responsible actor and aren’t serious about doing this project responsibly,” Slag said.
Twin Pines declined to comment when asked why the company has not paid the financial assurance.
In March, a federal court in Colorado entered a default judgment against Twin Pines in a case brought by a Danish shipping company that alleges it is owed $9.4 million in unpaid services, interest and attorneys fees, court records show. The case is now stayed pending arbitration.
In a lawsuit filed in a California state court that same month, M&L Commodities alleges Twin Pines and Trail Ridge Land LLC, an affiliated company who owns the roughly 600 acres of land where the mine would be built, have been “financially insolvent” for at least the past two years.
The lawsuit alleges they are shell companies that exist to evade creditors. Both companies are affiliated with Greenfuels Energy LLC, which is also named as a defendant.
The dispute centers on a contract Twin Pines struck with M&L Commodities in August 2021 for the storage of thousands of tons of mineral sand in California. M&L’s attorney alleges that, after years of timely payment, Twin Pines began falling behind in early 2023.
By June 2024, Twin Pines’ outstanding invoices ballooned to $4.2 million, according to the lawsuit.
Twin Pines President Steven Ingle struck a deal last August converting the outstanding balance into a $3 million loan in exchange for over $1 million in debt forgiveness.
But unpaid invoices continued to pile up in the months following the deal. By February, Twin Pines accrued an additional $2.7 million in debt to M&L Commodities, according to the complaint.
M&L Commodities filed suit in March, demanding a total payment of roughly $5.7 million — the sum of the loan and remaining unpaid invoices — and accusing Twin Pines and other defendants of fraud and unjust enrichment, court records show.
In a legal answer filed with the court in late April, Twin Pines denied “each and every allegation.”
“Twin Pines cannot comment because these are pending legal matters,” said Joseph Martinez, the attorney representing the company.
Twin Pines previously operated a mine in Ione, California, which was cited by state regulators in September 2023 for operating without a permit.
The lawsuits come months after it was reported Twin Pines fell behind on a $650,000 personal property tax bill in Charlton County where the mining equipment was kept.
The tax bill has since been paid, Charlton County tax records show. But Trail Ridge has four outstanding liens for roughly $30,000 in unpaid taxes.
That project was also the subject of roughly $170,000 in fines across 64 violations cited by North Carolina environmental regulators, a previous investigation found.
Twin Pines itself was fined $20,000 last year by Georgia regulators for drilling on the proposed swamp mining site without the supervision of a state licensed geologist or professional engineer, state records show.
